Line Dancing

This weekend, I am with some of my fabulous colleagues and some of the year 6s from school at a camp about an hour from school.

We had some down time last night, so when we were planning, I offered to share one of my favorite American traditions-line dancing. I vividly remember Coach LaVercombe teaching me the Electric Slide in PE when I was in middle school. I was in love with line dances from then on.

I was pretty sure the girls would like it, but I was a little anxious about the boys. I started with the Cupid Shuffle, an easy one that came out a few years ago. Next, I showed them the Cotton-Eyed Joe, the version that my friend Stephanie taught me in the upstairs of our barn when I was about the age of these pupils. They absolutely loved it and many took me up on a faster challenge. I also taught them the Wobble, a dance that came out just a couple of years ago.

I was thrilled with their enthusiasm. They truly seemed to enjoy it-I believe everyone, absolutely everyone learned at least one dance.

This morning, with just a few minutes of down time in the lounge as the instructors filled in, the kids got up and danced the Cotton Eyed Joe without music or prompting. (The instructors were not sure what to think of the spontaneous coordinated dance moves!)

Tonight at the Disco (dance), when the Cotton-Eyed Joe came on, all of the kids got up and were quickly into their lines and on beat. It may seem a bit ridiculous, but that moment-watching everyone of the 60 or so kids here at camp do the dance I had taught them-may be one of the proudest I've had this year. I taught the kids something very American, very Southern, something I loved when I was their age, and they were all into it! I was beaming!

We also did the Wobble, the Cupid Shuffle and several other modern songs. Some of the songs the kids went crazy for were the exact same ones that I had enjoyed at their age: the YMCA (when my added dance moves entertained the kids!), the Macarena (a CD my mother was kind enough to buy for me for my 13th birthday party), Grease and Sweet Home Alabama.

I love to dance and so when I was their age, I absolutely lived for those middle school dances. Tonight, twenty years later, I still love them!;)

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